Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel
4.9/5
Critic Rating
Every Monday morning step into the office of iconic psychotherapist Esther Perel and listen in as real people in search of insight bare the raw, intimate, and profound details of their stories. From breakups and open relationships to workplace conflicts and fractures in the family, it’s a place to hear our own stories reflected in the lives of others. So…where should we begin? Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Critic Reviews
Score: 4
James Marriot • The Times UK • Aug 1, 2024
"(Mini-Series: The Arc of Love) Esther Perel, who is not only admirably tough with her clients but broadcasts that toughness... I’m glad to report that she is stricter than ever on her new mini-series The Arc of Love...Perfect holiday listening."
Score: 5
Fiona Sturges • Financial Times • Jul 21, 2024
"(Mini-Series) The Arc of Love) It’s fascinating to hear the prompts Perel uses to get her clients to dig deeper...her efficiency in peeling back the layers and getting to the nub of a problem can still take your breath away. She is kind, often reassuring, but also famously stern when she hears dishonesty or aggression. …"
Score: 5
Emma Dibdin • New York Times • Sep 5, 2023
"...an irresistible fly-on-the-wall perspective into what happens in a real couples-therapy session."
Score: 5
Fiona McCann • Irish Times • Sep 2, 2023
"Perel can take a conversation about the difficulties navigating a polyamorous relationship and drill it down to insecurities born from repressed anger and having to navigate a white world as a black man. A Belgian-American Jewish woman whose parents both survived Nazi concentration camps, she’s keenly attuned to family and generational trauma and also aware of the limited lens of her own experience. But, boy, can she cut through a conversation to find everybody’s secret, deeply human place."
Score: 5
James Marriot • The Times UK • Jul 27, 2023
"..you get someone like Perel who is just so wise about people and where their emotional problems come from. She’s good at drawing people out and venturing into difficult emotional terrain. So intrepid. So Belgian. The Tintin of 21st-century romantic psychodrama. Above all, the podcast is genuinely touching."
Score: 5
Miranda Sawyer • The Guardian • Jul 15, 2023
"If you’re not familiar with it, you’re in for a treat. Perel records some asides to explain what she’s thinking, but other than that you’re in the room with her and a couple in crisis. This might not sound like much, but, honestly, it’s riveting and revelatory. Occasionally, her insights are so acute, she can seem like a witch (though, of course, that’s what experience does). Every episode will give you something to think about."
Score: 5
Hannah Verdier • The Guardian • Jun 22, 2023
"Esther Perel talks in her mesmerising Belgian accent, you can’t help but listen. From a couple who’ve been married twice (to each other) but still fight about chores and cats, to a cross-examination of why two people left their partners for an affair, she goes deeper than any other podcaster would dare."
Score: 5
Ammar Kalia • The Guardian • Jul 28, 2022
"...features a real therapy session with a couple each week, allowing often messy self-realisations to inform listeners’ reflections on our own lives. Although it can be heavy, listening to Perel is like witnessing an artist at work."
Score: 5
John Phipps • The Spectator • Sep 11, 2021
"It is a thing of savage beauty. Perel herself is a merciless genius, not cruel, but all too aware that we perpetuate large-scale sadness by sparing the feelings of a moment."
Score: 5
Annie Foskett • Elite Daily • Jun 13, 2018
"Whether you are single or in a relationship, you'll relate to, learn from, and cry with these couples. 10/10 would recommend."
